


Camping

by moodyvalentine



Series: Choices September Challenge [1]
Category: Red Carpet Diaries (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-14 13:06:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16041071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moodyvalentine/pseuds/moodyvalentine
Summary: MC (Tara) goes camping with her friends and decides to invite Hunt.





	Camping

**Author's Note:**

> In case anyone's wondering, this is for the Choices September Challenge on tumblr. Today's prompt was, as the title says: Camping. Enjoy!

When Matt asked me if I was going to join him and the rest of our friends on their camping trip, I was hesitant. I'd planned to spend my days off in Hollywood. Specifically, hanging out in the locales I knew a certain director frequented. I'd had a bit of a thing for him for a while now, but working together on _The Last Duchess_ intensified my feelings. I knew I didn't have a chance with him, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to try. Then it came to me: I could just invite him.

Sure, he would probably say no. The great Thomas Hunt most certainly had better things to do than spending half a week in the middle of nowhere with my friends and me. But it was worth a shot, right?

So, here I was, staring at my phone, his number already put in. He would laugh at me.

 _"What a ridiculous suggestion,"_ I could already hear him in my mind. _"Is this another one of your jokes, Tara?"_

This was a terrible idea. I was clearly insane. Nonetheless, I took a deep breath and hit the _call_ button. Absolutely fucking delusional, that's what I was.

"Tara?" I heard his voice, and my heart began to race.

"Yes," I replied. "It's me." My hands were so sweaty that I was afraid my phone would slip away. "I wanted to ask you something."

"So ask," he simply said.

Another deep breath. "Well, we just wrapped filming and I figured we should celebrate."

There was a pause. Then, Thomas said, very slowly, "Yes, we will. At the wrap party at the end of the week."

"No, I mean now. Not publicly. My... my friends invited me on a camping trip," I explained.

"I don't understand."

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Would you like to come with us, Thomas?"

Even though I didn't see him, I knew exactly what look he had on his face right now. I could imagine it all too well. How his eyes would widen and his jaw would drop. Just for a split second, though. He would compose himself quickly enough and then immediately say--

"Why would I want to do that?" he replied.

My heart dropped. I'd expected this, but still...

"Well, I mean... you must be so stressed... and it would be a great opportunity to unwind," I stuttered.

For a few seconds -- it felt like an eternity -- he was silent. I was almost scared he'd hung up on me. Then he spoke. "I suppose... how long would this trip be? And who will be coming?"

I almost jumped up and down from excitement. It wasn't a yes yet, but it wasn't a hard no, either. "It will just be my closest friends. Matt, Victoria, Chazz... Teja and Seth, too. We'd drive out to the desert for just a couple days. Absolutely back for the wrap party if that's what you're worried about," I said, trying to conceal my excitement.

"You realise I haven't agreed, don't you?" Thomas said.

"Pretty please? It would mean a lot."

"Don't resort to begging, Tara." He was quiet for a bit, probably mulling it over. "Very well. I will join you."

"Aww, yes," I squealed. "I'll text you the details."

"Can't you just--"

I'd hung up before he could protest any more, a huge smile on my face. He'd said yes. I couldn't believe it. He was going to go on a camping trip with me. We were going to be in the middle of nowhere, far from anyone else but my friends. This was my chance. 

I quickly texted Thomas everything he needed to know and called Matt to tell him someone else would be joining us. I was worried he'd be mad, since I hadn't asked beforehand, but he seemed alright with it. 

* * *

 

The following morning, we all met up at Matt's place. Everyone but Thomas was already there when I arrived. After all, they'd been the one who planned it all.

"Where's your date, Tara?" Victoria asked, arms crossed. "I thought we were gonna leave... well, right now."

"Not my date," I said. "And I'm sure he'll be here soon. He's not usually late..."

Just as I'd finished my sentence a car drove up to the driveway. As he got out of the car, I heard someone gasp slightly. I turned to the others and saw the shock written on their faces.

"You invited Thomas Hunt?" Chazz asked. "No way."

"Yes way," I chimed and walked towards Thomas to greet him. "Glad you could make it. Even though you're... _late_."

He scowled. "I am aware. LA traffic is--"

"Just the worst. Trust me, I know," I chuckled. "Come on now, everyone's waiting."

"All right, everyone. We've got two cars. There's mine. Victoria's already decided to ride with me," Matt said. 

"It _is_ the more comfortable car," she said, shrugging.

"Or you can drive with me," Chazz said.

"I call shotgun for Chazz' car," Seth said.

Teja rolled her eyes. "Guess that means I'm going with Matt. No way I'm gonna be stuck in a car with you."

Clearly, they still hadn't worked through their differences. Matt shot me a meaningful look. So that must have been a reason for that trip.

"What about you two? Tara? Mr Hunt?" Chazz asked, looking at me as if to say _'Please save me from listening to Seth complaining about Teja for hours.'_

"I'll have to go with Chazz."

"Then so will I," Thomas said, surprising me. I would have figured he'd have preferred Matt's more luxurious car over Chazz'... well... piece of junk.

Merely a couple of minutes later, everything was packed into the trunks, and we were all in the cars. Matt drove first, leading the way for us.

No one talked for the first couple of miles. Chazz and Seth both didn't seem entirely comfortable with Thomas in the car. And, to be honest, neither did he. Though that may have had something to do with the fact that the car was tiny, forcing him to be much closer to me than he probably wanted to be. After a little while, though, the atmosphere lightened.

Unsurprisingly, it was Seth that started the conversation. He told us about the movie he and Teja were working on and, even though the two of them didn't get along right now, he still seemed so excited for it. Soon, we were all talking about our jobs and projects. Even Thomas eventually joined the conversation when Chazz started talking about working at Ethan Blake's agency. Apparently, Ethan had been a student of Thomas' a couple years ago.

Everything worked out much better than I could have anticipated. Despite the initial awkwardness, the car ride turned out to be quite enjoyable. Though, if one was to ask Thomas, he would have probably said it was tolerable at best. 

* * *

We got to the campsite in the late afternoon. That's when, for the first time, an actual problem arose.

We'd just put up the tents when Thomas said, "There are only four tents."

"Yeah, Seth and Chazz are sharing, so are Teja and I. Matt needs his own -- more space because of his injuries, and Victoria's just... well, Victoria," I explained, not realising my error until I'd finished talking. Oh. I'd completely forgotten to tell Thomas to bring a tent. "Oh."

Stupid, stupid subconscious. I knew a part of me must have wanted to forget to tell him.

"Well, this is awkward," Seth said.

"I mean... you could sleep with me in mine," Matt offered.

Teja shook her head. "Nonsense. Matt, you need the space. Tara brought him so she should share with him. I'm sure Vic would be fine sharing with me, right?"

"Call me Vic again and I'll kill you in your sleep," she replied.

"Is that a yes?" Teja asked.

Victoria looked at me, then at Thomas, then back to me. Her lips formed a sly smile. "You know what? I think I can make that sacrifice. It's for a good cause, after all."

"So it's settled then," Teja said, grinning as she looked at the two of us.

"I do not think that is a good idea," Thomas protested.

I raised an eyebrow. "Would you rather not sleep in a tent?"

"Of course not. But I'm sure there is another--"

"Nope," Seth said, clearly having picked up on what Teja and Victoria had noticed already. "This is how it's going to be."

Thomas looked around somewhat helplessly, hoping someone else would tell them how idiotic the idea was. Of course, no one did.

"Very well," he huffed. "For the record, I still think this is a bad idea."

I grinned. "Aw, come on. I'm not _that_ bad."

"I... I never said you were. I just don't think--"

"Shhh," I cut him off. "Don't think. It only makes things worse."

He blushed, then quickly frowned. Without another word, he disappeared into the tent. _Our_ tent.

Matt and Teja started making a fire for the night as it was starting to get dark. 

* * *

 

Not much later, we were all sat around it. Well, all except Thomas. He'd decided he'd go to bed early so he wouldn't be too tired for the little trip we'd planned for tomorrow.

Despite the obvious tension between Teja and Seth, we were having a great time as we roasted marshmallows and talked about anything and everything. The evening passed by quickly, and before we knew it, we were all tired and ready for bed as well.

I snuck into my tent as quietly as I could so I wouldn't wake Thomas only to see that he was still awake.

"Finally," he said. "I thought you would never shut up."

I raised an eyebrow as I unpacked my sleeping bag. "We weren't even that loud."

"I could hear you. It was too loud to sleep."

"We are here to have fun, you know?" I said and spread out my sleeping bag. I turned to him, studying his face. "Did you listen to what we talked about?"

He didn't answer, but even in the faint light of the flashlight, I could see him blush. That gave it away.

"So? Any opinions you'd like to share?" I asked as I turned around to take off my shirt.

He coughed slightly, making me grin. I knew he was looking. Maybe he didn't want to, but he was. "I didn't listen because I was interested. I didn't have a choice in the matter."

I laughed as I unclasped my bra.

"Tara," Thomas said, almost warningly.

"What?" My grin widened. A sudden surge of confidence came over me. It was now or never. I turned around, entirely topless, taking Thomas by surprise. He stared at my bare breasts with wide eyes, his mouth agape. I could tell he wanted to look away, but he didn't.

"Tara, what are you doing?" he croaked, then finally averted his eyes.

"Just changing into my pyjamas," I said with a shrug as I pulled down my pants as well.

He was still watching me, out of the corner of his eye. I could tell by the way his expression changed as I undid the button of my jeans.

"This is precisely why I consider this a bad idea," Thomas said, his voice merely a whisper now.

There I was, in front of the man I wanted more than anything else in the world, wearing nothing but my panties. And it was clear that it affected him. I would have been a fool not to act.

"Bad idea?" I asked. "Why would you say that?"

He forced himself not to look at me. "Because you do things like this."

"Did you expect me to sleep in my day clothes?" I asked innocently.

"I certainly did not expect you to put on a strip show right in front of me," he said.

"If that's what you see, that's your fault. I was just getting changed." I crossed my arms in front of my chest, and he finally looked at me again.

He was obviously conflicted, his face conveying a wide array of different emotions all at once. "I... I..."

"Thomas Hunt, speechless?" I chuckled. "That's a first."

He cleared his throat and got his face under control. The signature scowl was back. "I thought you wanted to put on your pyjamas."

"Do you want me to?" I asked, removing my arms that were covering my chest and scooting closer to him.

"I... I do," he stuttered.

I moved closer. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," he whispered weakly.

I lowered my head so our faces were only inches apart. "Really?"

"Please, Tara..."

"Please _what_? Stop?" I asked. "Do you want me to stop?"

He didn't reply at first. He just stared into my eyes with a mixture of lust and longing in his. Then he finally said, his voice raspy, "No."

That was all I needed. In a split second, my lips were on his. A moment I had waited for ever since we started filming. No. Truly, ever since that night at the bar. When he'd told me about the movie for the very first time.

The kiss was everything I'd hoped it would be. Passionate. Intoxicating.

Thomas poured just as much of himself into the kiss as I had. Maybe even more. His arms found wrapped around me, pulling me closer towards him.

When we parted, way too soon, he smiled up at me. "Oh, Tara. Why are you doing this to me?"

I smiled back at him. "You still think this is a bad idea?"

"Oh, absolutely," he said, but his actions contradicted his words as he pulled me back down, into another fervent kiss.

 

 


End file.
